Merchant, a recording artiste from Portmore, St. Catherine, has been a songwriter for several years, penning songs for the likes of Fisko Kid, Derrick Parker and Queen Paula. In 2004 he won second place in the nation-wide B-Mobile Talent Search competition. Gyptian won first place.

The events that inspired “Move Out Mi Tings”, took place when Merchant returned to Jamaica from spending a three year-stint in the Bahamas, to find his house empty. He alleged that his baby mother sold some of his belongings, relocated the rest and fled the island by the time he returned to Jamaica.

Merchant wrote the song two days later. According to the Jamaica Star newspaper Merchant stated: “Because mi very hurt still. She no tell mi seh she move dem. She just do it. When mi come wid mi suit case, only me and di suit case inna di house. So instead of we having a physical war mi just write di song. So if di song buss mi can move in back some tings. Probably a my luck..

” Publicist Karla Ashley of Island Fuse Entertainment spoke with the baby mother who explained: “I don’t really like the song. I don’t think it was truthful. I don’t think he should have put it in the public. It needed more information so people would know exactly what took place. It was our private life so it should not have gone public.”

Merchant is not fazed by the backlash. Riding on the success of “Move Out Mi Tings” he is currently in the process of releasing several other singles including “Joe Grind”, a serious song about infidelity, with a comical undertone. He also has several collaborations in the pipeline, including one with Derrick Parker, “Why Did You Have To Go Away” and another with Beenie Man’s brother, Kirk Davis, “Love a Bubble Up”, due for release this month.

Fans who wish to keep up-dated on the latest news can join Merchant on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/musicaly.merchant

DANCEHALL MUSIC - Dancehall
is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s.
Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots
style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.

REGGAE MUSIC - Reggae
is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term
also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A
1968 single by Toots and the Maytals "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae,"